Selamat Omar, 60, the father of Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat, a 29-year-old aviation engineer who was travelling to Beijing on the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 plane, to work on aircraft repairs, talks to journalists at a hotel in Putrajaya on March 10, 2014.

KUALA LUMPUR - Police are allegedly investigating a flight engineer who was among the passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 as they focus on the pilots and anyone else on board who had technical flying knowledge, a senior police official said.

The aviation engineer, Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat, 29, a Malaysian, had said on social media he had worked for a private jet charter company.

"Yes, we are looking into Mohd Khairul as well as the other passengers and crew. The focus is on anyone else who might have had aviation skills on that plane," a senior police official with knowledge of the investigations told Reuters.

Malaysian investigators are trawling through the backgrounds of the pilots, crew and ground staff who worked on the missing Boeing 777-200ER for clues as to why someone on board flew it hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of miles off course.

No trace of the plane has been found more than a week after it vanished, but investigators believe it was diverted by someone with deep knowledge of the plane and of commercial navigation.

Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Saturday evidence pointed to a deliberate diversion of the flight, given the controlled way it was apparently turned around and flown far to the west of its original route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

A flight engineer is responsible for overseeing systems on a plane during flights to confirm they are working correctly and to make repairs if necessary.

As an engineer specialising in executive jets, Khairul would not necessarily have all the knowledge needed to divert and fly a large jetliner.

Khairul had said he worked for a Swiss-based jet charter firm called Execujet Aviation Group, but the company declined to say whether it still employed him.

In a picture posted on Khairul's Facebook account in 2011, he identified himself as an employee of Execujet's Malaysian operations.

"We can't disclose anything. We want to protect the family's privacy," an official at the company's Malaysian office said.

Khairul, a father of one daughter, had recently bought a house on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and had more than 10 years experience as a flight engineer, his father Selamat Omar told Reuters. He declined to say whether he believed his son could have been involved in any foul play.

Selamat said he and other family members were supposed to visit Khairul's new house this month. But Khairul had told his father on Thursday he had to go for a job in Beijing and that they would reschedule. That was the last time they spoke.

"Khairul was doing well in his job and was a good son. He would come visit us at least once a month," Selamat said. - Reuters

The Royal Malaysian Navy corvette KD Terengganu and a U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney conduct a coordinated air and sea search for a missing Malaysian Airlines jet in the Gulf of Thailand

Crew members from the Royal Malaysian Air Force prepare a Malaysian Air Force CN235 aircraft for a Search and Rescue operation to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, in the Straits of Malacca

A crew member from the Royal Malaysian Air Force uses binoculars onboard a Malaysian Air Force CN235 aircraft during a Search and Rescue operation to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, in the Straits of Malacca

Ground workers push a Vietnam Coast Guard Casa aircraft after a search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plane over the southern sea, at a military airport in Ho Chi Minh city on March 13, 2014.

Indonesian Air Force personnel aboard an Indonesian Air Force military surveillance aircraft over the Malacca Strait, a sea passageway between Indonesia and Malaysia, while searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plane.

Students light candles as they hold placards in solidarity with families of the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plane during a candle light vigil at the university belt in Manila on March 13, 2014.

At least 43 ships and 39 aircraft from Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, China, the US, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand have joined the search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER. India, Japan and Brunei joined the search operations on March 12.

Republic of Singapore Navy personnel participating in the search and rescue operations, approximately 380 nautical miles (700 kms) north of Singapore, in the South China Sea for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Singapore Navy personnel participating in the search and rescue operations, approximately 380 nautical miles (700 kms) north of Singapore, in the South China Sea for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Philippine Air Force crew aboard a C-130 plane scour the seas while flying over the western Philippines in the South China Sea as they help search efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

A Philippine Air Force crew member aboard a C-130 plane scours the seas while flying over the western Philippines in the South China Sea as they help search efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

A C-130 Hercules transport plane belonging to Japan's Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) is seen at the ASDF base in Naha on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, before departing to help in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777-200 plane

An Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency boat patrols the Malacca Strait off Aceh province located in the area of northern Sumatra island in search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The search for a missing Malaysian jet swung northwest towards the Andaman Sea on March 12, far from its intended flight path, exposing Malaysia to mounting criticism that its response was in disarray.

At least 40 ships and 34 aircraft from Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, China, the US, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand have joined the search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER. On March 12, India announced that it is joining the search operations as well. No sign of the plane has been spotted so far.

Family members of passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vote to set a deadline for the company to answer their requests, including providing solatium without additional conditions, at a hotel in Beijing

Surti Dahlianese, niece of Dutch national, Surti Dahlia, a passenger on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 looks at identity documents of her missing aunt Surti Dahlia while other Indonesian relatives watch television to monitor the latest developments on the missing aircraft from their residence in Medan city, located in Sumatra island.

Interpol Secretary General Ronald Kenneth Noble (2ndR) speaks next to the Police Services Executive Director Jean-Michel Louboutin (R), the Director of Operational Police Support Michel O'Connell (L) and the Chief of staff Roraima Andriani (2ndL) during a press conference where they display an image of two suspects from the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370

Malaysia's Police Chief, Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference, that one of the men (L) was identified as a 19-year-old Iranian Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad while the identity of the other was being investigated.

An aerial view of an oil spill is seen from a Vietnamese Air Force aircraft in the search area for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane, 250km from Vietnam and 190km from Malaysia, in this handout photo from Thanh Nien Newpaper taken on March 8, 2014.

Fuad Sharuji, VP Operation Control, said during the last reported contact at 35,000 feet, around two hours from KLIA, there was no call from the crew or notification from the tower that they were having any kind of difficulties.

"We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41 am earlier this morning bound for Beijing," MAS CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya (above) said in a statement.

An airport worker writes on a sign board advising relatives of passengers of a missing Malaysia Airlines to go to a nearby hotel for information on the flight, at Beijing International Airport in Beijing on March 8, 2014

Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) Director General Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman (L) speaks at a news conference at a hotel near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang March 9, 2014.

Deputy commander of Vietnam Air Force Do Minh Tuan (seated), looks at a map on a TV screen during a news conference about their mission to find missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at Phu Quoc Airport on Phu Quoc Island

Deputy commander of Vietnam Air Force Do Minh Tuan points to a map during a news conference after their mission to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at Phu Quoc Airport on Phu Quoc Island

Crew members looking outside windows from a Malaysian Air Force CN235 aircraft working during a search and rescue (SAR) operation to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plane over the Strait of Malacca.